PICTURE: How the circular economy is a game changer. Source credit: Charitable Recycling Australia
The circular economy disrupts old ideas about ‘waste’.
Our economic system takes a linear approach to the production, consumption and disposal of goods.
Charitable Recycling Australia believes that advancing the circular economy is the path to a more sustainable environment and an equitable society.
The organisation acknowledges that currently products are created by extracting raw materials that are used for a single purpose, for a short period of time.
At the end of this period, they typically head to landfill as waste, which then needs to be managed and disposed of (often via overseas export).
The circular economy sees production and consumption as a continuum, where the goods that are produced are used for much longer. At the end of their extended lifecycle, they can then be repurposed, recycled and remanufactured into something else. Access the REUSE CALCULATOR here.
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Far too many Aussies are wistful wasters
We can’t just keep making stuff, using it once or twice, and then burying it forever.
How do we reduce our waste? How do we properly recycle it?
And most importantly, how do we stop thinking of it as waste?
Here’s how to take action to reduce our food, fashion and plastic footprint, by Craig Reucassel for War On Waste, (ABC News,Tue 1 Aug 2023)
One approach to dealing with the problem of fashion waste is to rethink our attitude to clothing. thredUP is one business having a go at doing this .. here’s how it works … ReSale-as-a-Service
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To flush or not to flush – is this a question we need to pay more attention to?
Some things are so ingrained that we don’t think twice about them: We yawn, we blink, we flush the toilet after we use it.
THE FLUSH TOILET is a great example of the linear economy in practice every day, in 99.99 percent of households around Australia.
Elissaveta M. Brandon in: These designers created a more sustainable toilet with centuries-old technology (Fast Company, 8.07.23 – 7 minute read) reports that ‘The modern flush toilet is a huge waste of water. Could this high-design alternative toilet take its place?’
The flush toilet was first invented in 1596 (Queen Elizabeth I had one installed in her palace), but it took another 250 years for it to go mainstream and revolutionize the sanitation system. Today, the flush toilet is a cornerstone of the modern bathroom, but it has also become synonymous with two very 21st-century problems: the human obsession for convenience and the water crisis.
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Sad but true, plastic waste is upcycled for nest building
Amanda Vanstone (ABC RN Counterpoint, 31 July 2023) at 42 minutes into the program, highlights this disturbing news.
It seems the more rubbish the human race produces, the more birds like to collect bits of it to build and decorate their nests. Animal ecologist Dominique Potvin has even found 3D glasses featuring in one nest. A major international study now shows the number of species fossicking for bizarre bits and pieces of plastic and other things is on the rise. To listen click on the highlighted link.
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The troll and clown trail in Östnor, Mora, Sweden
CONSTRUCTED OUT OF RECYCLED MATERIALS from industrial ‘waste’ and other sources, this adventure park and playground is a popular destination for families in the warmer months of the year.
A great playground for children with fun “obstacles”. The imagination can run free, funny pictures and stations / “obstacles” along the way.
MMM … Issue 40, October – November 2023
